But constituents in ME have told a different story since Collins' speech last Friday, in which she suggested that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford incorrectly remembered Kavanaugh as the person who assaulted her when the two were in high school and claimed the judge had displayed an appropriate temperament for a Supreme Court justice.

The senator told the Associated Press that the local response has been "overwhelmingly positive", claiming, "Many people have thanked me for my vote and have said that they were very pleased that I did the right thing".

But Penny Lynn, a 39-year-old social worker who was dismayed by Justice Kavanaugh's defense of himself against the sexual assault claim, said Ms. Collins will suffer for her defense of the nominee. And a controversial crowdfunding campaign has raised more than $1.1 million to give to a future Collins opponent if she votes to confirm Kavanaugh.

While her vote spurred criticism, Collins was cheered by Republicans including past and former presidents.

She said that when Kavanaugh was first nominated to federal court in 2004 his nomination was delayed by Democrats for two years and he faced very hostile hearings.

Her tweet was in response to former Obama White House communications director Jen Psaki's post Friday afternoon writing: "Who wants to run for Senate in ME? there will be an army of supporters with you".

As columnist Frida Ghitas wrote on CNN Saturday morning, "The FBI probe apparently did not find any corroborating evidence into allegations of sexual assault against Judge Brett Kavanaugh because it was never meant to do that". My fervent hope is that Brett Kavanaugh will work to lessen the divisions in the Supreme Court'.

On Saturday night, Trump portrayed his successful confirmation vote on Kavanaugh as a reason voters should elect Republicans in next month's nationwide congressional elections, when the political control of Congress is at stake.

Dickerson also asked her about Kavanaugh's temperament and partisanship, which her Republican colleague Sen.

In reply to Dickerson's question why the fact that Fold told her husband and her therapist about the assault long ago did not amount to corroboration, Collins cited Ford's failure to avail herself of the opportunity to have further interviews with bipartisan staff investigators of the Judiciary Committee. Susan Collins said on the Senate floor. Rice is weighing whether to try to unseat Republican Sen.

"In one case - and we are going to turn this over to the police, but unfortunately, of course, the person didn't leave a name or number - but they actually threatened to rape one of my young female staffers", she said.

Collins said she considers the crowdfunding campaign raising money for whoever might challenge her in 2020 to be an attempt at bribery.

Rice has a home in ME, a source said, and her family has ties to the state: Her mother, an education policy expert who was instrumental in the creation of the Pell Grant, was born there.

Collins questioned Rice's connection to ME, saying Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that although Rice's family has a home in ME, "she doesn't live in the state of Maine". She called it "the most hard in the 22 years that I've been honored to represent the state of Maine in the Senate".